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And I’m behaving like a jealous, heartbroken woman.

Swallowing the lump lodged painfully in my throat, I slip my wrist from his hand and walk away without looking back.

How dare he ask me something like that?

After everything he did?

God.

The audacity is unbelievable.

NINETEEN

Zayn

As always, whenever I come here, the weight pressing down on my chest drives me to my knees.

I still can’t understand how one place can hold both peace and unbearable pain at the same time, yet nothing could ever keep me away from it.

Denis Black.

My best friend. My partner in every kindergarten and school project, in every reckless idea, every stupid dare, and every unforgettable moment we created outside the classroom.

He knew me as well as my own family, just as my brothers do.

We never needed many words. One look was enough. One glance, one grin, and we always understood each other.

The cruelest proof of that came on the day everything ended.

One second of distraction turned one of our races into the nightmare that stole his life.

And shattered mine.

It was a race I insisted we enter.

A race Denis never came back from.

A race that tore half of me away and left the other half running across tracks for years afterward, desperate to outrun the guilt and grief that have followed me ever since.

Today marks ten years since my best friend died.

Last night, I would’ve gone to the races no matter what happened between Selene and me. I know that. There was never a chance I’d stay away. Every year, on this exact date, I come here.

And every year, I can feel him beside me.

I picture him on my right, wearing that cocky grin, adrenaline already burning through his veins before the engine even roars to life.

He was the best.

He never lost a single race.

Except the one against death.

Because of me.

Despite everything, his family still welcomes me with open arms. They smile through eyes filled with sorrow every time I visit their house and quietly make my way to his room—the room that remained untouched, exactly as he left it.

They dust every surface with heartbreaking care, cleaning around every belonging without moving a single thing, as if touching anything might erase another piece of him.